June 22, 2010

Frank Prisinzano may be one of the East Village’s reigning restaurant kings, but that doesn’t mean that the owner of Supper, Lil Frankie’s, and Frank is going to have an easy time opening the “simple Italian cafeteria” he recently proposed for the corner of Avenue A and East 2nd Street.

EV Grieve reports that a group of East 2nd Street residents are seriously opposed to Prisinzano’s plans for the space, which was previously home to the much-loved Graceland grocery. Earlier this month, the CB3 SLA/DCA committee couldn’t decide whether to green-light Prisinzano’s liquor license application. He’ll get another chance at the full CB3 board meeting tonight.

And so will his opponents, who have written an epic letter to the board outlining why they think Prisinzano shouldn’t be given a license. A hefty excerpt can be found over at EVG, but basically, the letter asserts that if his track record at Supper (which is also on 2nd Street) is any indication, then Prisinzano will just be bringing more noise, crowding, and flagrant disregard for the CB3’s rules and regulations to the block.

Also, reiterating the argument heard on every other block of the East Village, they write that they do not need another goddamn restaurant and/or bar:

“Our immediate neighborhood has become saturated with places that serve alcohol, while otherwise-useful businesses are dwindling, to the detriment of our quality of life.”

Whether the board will agree remains to be seen, but it says something about how far we’ve come when the prospect of a new restaurant is greeted with about the same amount of excitement as the possibility of another bank branch or a 7-Eleven.